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Pakistani officials continue to search for gunmen who participated in Tuesday's ambush¹ of the Sri Lankan cricket team, but have announced no arrests. The security provided to the players and the police response continue to draw criticism.
　
Players of Pakistan's national hockey team lay flowers to pay tribute to Pakistani police officers, in Lahore, Pakistan, 04 Mar² 2009

Foreign players and umpires who came under fire have returned home, but they are continuing to criticize the Pakistani security forces charged with protecting them.

The gun, grenade and rocket attack killed seven Pakistanis and wounded six Sri Lankan players and their assistant coach.

Australian umpire Steve Davis was traveling in a van with other umpires behind the Sri Lankan team bus.

"We were certainly left without any security in our van when we were being fired upon. Security obviously went with the Sri Lankan bus when they managed to get away - but we were left there and no one came back for us," he said.

Pakistan's top cricket official has dismissed similar claims by other players and umpires, citing the six police who died trying to protect the convoy³.

Video footage of the attack filmed by Pakistani news crews, as well as security camera tapes from shops near the ambush site, showed attackers almost casually⁴ fleeing. One camera filmed two attackers walking down a commercial street, carrying assault rifles, before hopping⁵ on a motorcycle and driving off.

Critics of the security now include former President Pervez Musharraf, who made a rare appearance before reporters to lament⁶ the damage done to cricket in Pakistan. The former general criticized the police commandos' inability to kill any of the gunmen.

"If this was the elite⁷ force I would expect them to have shot down those people who attacked them," said Mr. Musharraf. "The reaction, their training should be on a level that if anyone shoots toward the company they are guarding, in less than three seconds they should shoot the man down."

Terrorism-related violence has surged in Pakistan in the past year, but there has not been a corresponding rise in the number of people convicted on terrorism charges.

The Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies, in Islamabad, says nearly 8,000 people were killed in terrorist attacks in 2008, more deaths than the previous three years combined. The number of attacks last year reached nearly 2,600, including 63 suicide attacks.

But while dozens of suspects are frequently rounded up, they are rarely convicted.

Tasneem Noorani is a former interior secretary with extensive experience in law enforcement. When asked to name the last high-profile terrorism conviction in Pakistan, he cites the July 2002 verdict against the killers⁸ of American reporter Daniel Pearl.

"A lot of other cases, somehow the prosecution⁹ or the investigation¹⁰ does lose its way, I think the administration and prosecution agencies they are overwhelmed by the cases and by the time one case is in the spotlight¹¹, something else happens and the attentions get diverted, and I think that is one area where the government has to give a better account of itself," he said.

In Lahore, police said they have some strong leads and have detained several people, but they have not announced any charges.

1 ambush   

n.埋伏(地点)；伏兵；v.埋伏；伏击

参考例句：

• Our soldiers lay in ambush in the jungle for the enemy.我方战士埋伏在丛林中等待敌人。
• Four men led by a sergeant lay in ambush at the crossroads.由一名中士率领的四名士兵埋伏在十字路口。

2 mar   

vt.破坏，毁坏，弄糟

参考例句：

• It was not the custom for elderly people to mar the picnics with their presence.大人们照例不参加这样的野餐以免扫兴。
• Such a marriage might mar your career.这样的婚姻说不定会毁了你的一生。

3 convoy   

vt.护送，护卫，护航；n.护送；护送队

参考例句：

• The convoy was snowed up on the main road.护送队被大雪困在干路上了。
• Warships will accompany the convoy across the Atlantic.战舰将护送该船队过大西洋。

4 casually   

adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地

参考例句：

• She remarked casually that she was changing her job.她当时漫不经心地说要换工作。
• I casually mentioned that I might be interested in working abroad.我不经意地提到我可能会对出国工作感兴趣。

5 hopping   

n. 跳跃 动词hop的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The clubs in town are really hopping. 城里的俱乐部真够热闹的。
• I'm hopping over to Paris for the weekend. 我要去巴黎度周末。

6 lament   

n.悲叹，悔恨，恸哭；v.哀悼，悔恨，悲叹

参考例句：

• Her face showed lament.她的脸上露出悲伤的样子。
• We lament the dead.我们哀悼死者。

7 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

8 killers   

凶手( killer的名词复数 )； 消灭…者； 致命物； 极难的事

参考例句：

• He remained steadfast in his determination to bring the killers to justice. 他要将杀人凶手绳之以法的决心一直没有动摇。
• They were professional killers who did in John. 杀死约翰的这些人是职业杀手。

9 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

10 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

11 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。